shirley h wrote:

Sometimes everybody's transported to the plane by bus which means that speedy boarding counts for nothing - it's first off the bus and up the stairs

We will be going from Bristol so I'm going to take my chances. There are only 2 of us so hopefully we'll get 2 seats together - not fussed whereabouts on the plane.

It is normally a walk to the aircraft at Bristol, only some of the early morning flights use a bus to board, as they are parked on the remote stands.

You will get two seats together, I can almost guarantee it. I always manage to get 4

Gower

Well ive had to use that dreaded 08712442366

used your help tip nosivad

17min call on the mobile would have been £6.80

on a land line £1.70

but i used my skype, that i normaly use abroad to call people back home £0.26 ( not too bad )

Only dam issue now is my other 3 passengers all have to call it to give them there passport detail, as you cant do it online, and no online check in either! A right PITA as we all have carry on, so now have to use check in desks.

There book now if it gets cheeper gaurentee does exsist, but is hard work to apply and sort, and now will cost me more time in the airport ( not really woth the £29.98 i saved IMO )

Thanks for all the help guys

EasyJet Do The Following:
Speedy Boarding And Plus Card Holders
Special Assistance
Thoes In Group A
Thoes In Group B

Gower, have you checked this recently? They are now saying on their website that groups are 1 (SB & SB+), then SA & finally 2 (which is anyone else) with no mention of online check in's at all. The online check in help notes also now mention nothing about group A, though presumably as they've already got people online booked group A in the last 60 days they'll have to honour that.

As I said in September group A (as was)

Also includes anyone who books in online & only has hand luggage. I think it's in addition to the 1st 30 checking at the airport, though as more passengers do the online/hand luggage gig, they'll presumably have to revise this.

So it looks to me that the numbers booking online have grown & now with the first 30 at the airport are bigger percentages on some flights, their thinking is that
- if we want to book online,
- get on early with hand luggage only
- then we'll spend out for the SB.

Money making ploy to get more paying for SB. Simples!
Pete

My turn for a question???

having never used them before whats the crack? we are booked on a flight later in December WITH HOLD BAGGAGE.. will i be able to use the on line check in before we go [how long before] and if so what happens with the bags, do we still que or is there a bag drop??

wiz

Not really wiz

You can check in online but that only works if you use hand luggage.
If you check in online with no luggage & then turn up with hold luggage you simply have to check in again at the airport, but also then pay a higher rate per bag than the original booking would've been as well.

Pete

Unlike most major airlines there isn't a bag drop, so you will have to queue for check in along with other passengers. You may still want to do internet check in, we did on our last flight even though we had pre-paid luggage to check in as we were given boarding group A.

Earlier comments were no doubt correct at the time of posting today, however further information has since been released by Easyjet about online check in for hold baggage:

Online hold bag check-in introduced by EasyJet

Online check-in for passengers with hold baggage has been introduced by EasyJet at the majority of airports it flies from.

The new service enables passengers to check in online via the airline's easyJet.com website and then take their cases to the bag drop point at airport along with their online check-in boarding card.

The airline has allowed passengers travelling with hand baggage to check in online for some time.

EasyJet will continue to offer standard check-in desk facilities at the airport.

There will be no charge for either online check-in/bag drop or the existing airport check-in process.

Online check-in for hold baggage is available at 94 of the 112 airports the carrier serves.

The remaining 18 airports will follow "over time".These are:Ajaccio, Bodrum, Casablanca, Dalaman, Dubrovnik, Dusselsdorf, Hergarda, Innsbruck, Ljubljana, Marrakech, Salzburg, Split, Sharm el Sheik, Stockholm, Tangiers, Tel Aviv and Vienna.

Chief commercial officer Dana Dunne said: "When you add the new bag drop facility to our existing 60 day advance on-line check-in capability, it makes for a great product advantage.

"Most customers with hold bags can now pre-print their boarding passes for both outward and return journeys before leaving home - and get through the airport quicker too."

With permission from Travelmole

Good news David, hopefully it will shorten the waiting time at the airports, though if their fast bag drop is anything like BA's often is it will still be quicker to go through normal check in.

Hi everyone, I have booked easyjet flights for next August to Dalaman. This is the first time I have used them so not sure what to expect. I am sure I will have lots of questions about them nearer the time but my first one is re online check in. I booked the flights through another agent A1 travel as it came out £60 cheaper to book with them than Easyjet. Can I check in online through the easyjet website or is that not possible as they did not sell me the tickets directly? Hope this doesn't sound too stupid a question. Look forward to any replies. ESM

Good news about the online check in with hold luggage. I have just checked in for my flights - both outbound and inbound to Malta in January as online check in is available up to 60 days in advance.

I agree with the comment about the so called 'fast bag drop' it isn't really what I would call 'fast'. In fact I think they have dropped the 'fast' and now just call it bag drop!!

Pippa

Bad news David!

As an online booking, checking in, hand luggage only traveller on most of my journeys I now lose the advantage of Group A boarding so it explains the changes in the eJ systems we were discussing last week.

I've never really understood the "bag drop" idea. When I flew, pre eJ & with hold luggage, with GB Airways they had online check in with a bag drop at the BA desk at Gatport Airwick. So when I got to the airport I stood in a queue, went to a check in desk, handed my usual documents over but with my preprinted boarding card, loaded my baggage on the scales then off it went down the chute & off I went through departures.

I could never see the difference between that & checking in normally. IIRC correctly they even replaced my A4 printed boarding card with the normal version.

Pete

Interesting idea but does online checking in give you a better chance of getting Category A boarding? If you're willing to risk it, can you arrive at the airport later than for the normal check-in process?

I have to say we're in two minds about it as we used online check-in with Virgin last year and the queues at the desks for people who had checked in online were much longer than at the desks for those who hadn't.

Interesting idea but does online checking in give you a better chance of getting Category A boarding?

That's my point roseweb, there is no category A boarding from the way I read the new eJ system.

You either
- pay for Speedy Boarding and are classed as Group 1,
- borrow an unsuspecting child (that's a joke in case the thought police have a go!) or limp a bit to get on as Special Assistance.
Other than that it matters not whether you have
- booked on-line 59 days 23 hours & 59 minutes before the flight,
- have 10 tons of luggage or just a discreet man bag,
- use a super fast bag drop or the (probably faster) normal check in desk
- turn up 24 hours early or 30 seconds before check-in closes,
as everyone else is 2nd Class.

What I don't get with a "bag drop" is
- they have to weigh your bags (presumably!) or the plane might not be able to get off the ground
- they have to tag your bags or they might end up in Tallin rather than Turin
so how much different & speedier is that than a normal check in?
Pete

In theory the bag drop should work quicker than normal check in, all they have to do is weigh the bag, tag it and send it on it's way, no faffing around on the computer to find your booking then printing out boarding cards. In practice it often doesn't happen, people without boarding cards sometimes get in the queue, there aren't always enough bag drop off desks and if there are many more people who have done online check in than those who haven't then the queueing for normal check in may be quicker. Some of the major international airlines have had bag drops for a few years now and I have had very mixed experiences when using them. I'm flying with Easyjet in three weeks time, I'll be interested to see how efficient it is.

The bag drop has been in operation for at least a year at Geneva airport, and although I don't use it very often, when I have, it has been quite quick and easy to use.

HOWEVER there the trick is (or perhaps now 'was') that you couldn't check in without using a machine before the bag drop, and this would only show your flight exactly two hours before take off if you were bringing hold baggage.

Help, reference the East Midlands Airport situation, E J have just mailed me saying the decision has not been made but they will offer me a refund, but because my bookings for next year contain credit note elements the refund can only be offered as a credit !!! if they are not flying fron E M this does not help me. Also they have had my money for over a year as an overpayment, so how do I stand legally, I expect a full cash refund not a credit note.

How did the overpayment happen in the first place??

If it was a genuine overcharge in the past and you accepted a credit note then you've muddied the waters a bit. You probably should have taken the cash then and it will now get difficult. NEVER agree to a credit note when you are entitled to your real money back - whatever it is you're buying. If this is the case then you have two cash claims, one of which has been undermined. There is also the question of service charges - did you have to phone a premium rate number to use the credit note?

Or is this part of their "Price Promise" that if they offer your flight for less after you book it they will give you a credit note? Since they are under no legal obligation to do this (and are the only company I know of who do) then you probably have no right to the cash now. But you are entitled to the cash which you did pay (so you end up as you started with the original credit amount). If the original credit note had a time limit it will get messy as it's probably up now so you need to "stop the clock" when you made this booking and restart it now - if it was a goodwill gesture you'll be hard pushed.

Another thought has just occured to me that doesn't apply in your case but may affect others. If you use "Price Promise" goodwill credit to book a non-refundable flight and then have to cancel (say due to illness) I bet your insurance won't cover the loss in value, most policies have something buried away that usually hits AirMiles users.

thanks steve, yes this was via their price promise, I caught them out a few times, but they only offer you a credit file against future flights no cash back ,although they have had your cash originally. In my case the overpricing has amounted to over £500 so it is not small fry and they have had my cash for 18 months .they say they will offer me Luton or Stanstead but these are a long way from where I live, I am at present trying to get them to offer Manchester or Liverpool as they are nearer.

So it wasn't an overcharge or overpricing - it was what you thought was a fair price and agreed to and then found they had reduced it later. Most companies would have said tough at the time.

If they say you can't go from MAN or LIV is it because they don't fly the route or the flights are full? Or is it because some London biased call centre operator has suggested airports which are convenient to the southeast without thinking of those up north? Try booking the flight you want, if it has availablity they ought to let you on - after all if they don't spead the load around it will cause more problems down south.